My Kind of Beer

My Kind of Beer

with Chris Goddard

Beer and Sports

Fall — my absolute favourite time of year, bar none. It very rarely disappoints, like its kissing cousin Summer, on the weather front. We tend to give it quite a bit of latitude because we know that Winter is coming and that every bit of sun we get feels like a little bonus that we weren’t expecting. But when we have a rainy weekend or cold weather in the summer you can feel a collective sigh of disappointment. Perhaps we expect too much from Summer, or not enough from Fall. The other thing I love about Fall is the shear amount of potential drinking occasions: MLB/CFL/MLS seasons are winding down, NHL/NFL/NBA seasons are kicking off, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and I won’t even mention the beginning of the Christmas party season.

This month I want to focus on getting our beer and sport viewing paired up for success … err … at least from the beer point of view.

MLB Post Season Run — At the time we went to press there wasn’t any chance that the Jays were going to Cinderella their way out of this season and into the post season so I was feeling a little “sour” about it. Let’s pair up this non-post-season with Collective Arts Project Sour Harvest Saison (not that we are holding any grudges). This surprisingly accessible beer is all over the map when it comes to flavour and style but don’t let that scare you. This year they didn’t focus solely on the pumpkin (but the flavours are still central to the beer) but spread things out a little with some small tweaks. Using saison yeast also adds to some of the earthiness of this brew.

NFL 1st Quarter Down — It’s still too early to know if we are going to win the office pool but you’ve had the first Quarter of the season to help focus your crystal ball a bit. If there is one thing you do know — it’s that on any given Sunday you could take some pretty serious punishment so you should keep your watercooler gloating to a minimum. With this much runway still ahead of us we should probably take it easy and just reach for one of the NFL’s preferred beers — Bud Light. Not something I would traditionally reach for to be sure but Shawn & Ed Brewing Lagershed Lighter is really hard to find out at the LCBO right now.

NHL “This is the year” — Canada had its big 150, the Leafs haven’t won a cup in 50 years — are the planets aligned?!?! Yes they are. You heard it here first. The season is just getting going but I’ve got a good feeling about it and I think we should carry on like the parade is around the corner. What better way to celebrate a big Toronto win than with one of its newest breweries Eastbound Brewing Company. You can’t get their beer at the LCBO but if you make your way to their brewery you can grab yourself a 32 oz Crowler (can–growler) which will take your celebration to the next level and also give you something big and shiny to hoist above your head like Lord Stanley’s Cup.